Police found the barkeep's body beaten and stabbed to death in the alley outside his pub. But some blood samples from the scene did not belong to the victim. And further testing revealed the samples were not human at all. With that turn of events, investigators might have reached a dead end. But far away they found an ally in the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Laboratory. The lab has long led the world in DNA parentage testing for horse registries, like the American Quarter Horse Association. But it's not verifying sires and dams that's keeping the lab's technicians especially enthusiastic about their work these days. It's analyzing crime scene data from around the globe for agencies including the London-based New Scotland Yard. The lab started conducting DNA-based forensics work for outside agencies and individuals almost five years ago, said Marcia Eggleston, executive director of the lab. "Since the late '80s or early '90s the capability has been there; but it was the mid-'90s before we were approached," she said. "Now it's snowballing," she added, noting the lab's recent surge in forensics case work. Last academic year, the lab handled 91 cases. The year before it had handled just 22. "It's really climbing; people are finding out that we can do it," said Management Services Officer Karen Brinegar. Also changing are the types of cases the lab is seeing, said staff researcher Beth Wictum. "The number of criminal cases is going up. It was mostly civil until a couple years ago." Work has come from throughout the United States-a murder from South Bend, Ind.; a dog abuse case from New Port Richie, Fla.; a cattle rustling case from Arizona; an assault case from Iowa. In the case of the murdered barkeep, the UC Davis lab confirmed that the non-human sample found in the alley was dog blood. Ultimately, technicians were able to prove it came from the particular dog the police suspected-a dog owned by the prime suspect in the case. Often, as in this case, police have a good idea who committed a crime, but they haven't been able to establish a clear connection between that person and the crime scene, said lab supervisor Glen Byrns. "In this case, it would leave the suspect to explain why his dog was cut and bleeding and why his dog's blood was found next to the dead body," Byrns said. In another case the lab helped investigate, a woman noticed that while she was being sexually assaulted, her dog urinated on a hubcap of the attacker's pickup. Police swabbed the tire. The suspect who was identified by the woman denied ever being near the victim's house. But the dog's DNA perfectly matched the DNA traces left on the suspect's pickup's tire. Seeking to help out in the Cody Fox case, two years ago the lab offered its services free to the Tehama County Sheriff's Department. Technicians helped police identify the pit bulls that in September of 1998 severely mauled the then-11-year-old, so the dogs' owner could be held accountable. "If there was any chance of him saying it wasn't my dog, we were going to eliminate it," Byrns said. The lab also works on animal abuse cases. For instance, owners have been arrested after dragging animals behind their cars when blood samples taken off a road match the injured or dead animals' DNA profiles. And in another case, cat fur found on a suspect's clothing linked him to a crime inside the home where the cat lived. Circumstantial evidence? Perhaps. But seemingly convincing nonetheless. "We're never the smoking gun," Byrns said. "We're just one more piece of tape that holds the case together. "It shows someone was somewhere they absolutely swear they weren't," he said. Staff researcher Alison Schaffer agreed. "It doesn't necessarily clinch it. It just adds to the whole picture. They get a preponderance of evidence and plead it out," she said. In other cases, when the animals are the criminals themselves, the evidence is more damning. A couple years ago, for instance, one of three Great Danes belonging to a Simi Valley woman attacked a 9-year-old boy. Since authorities couldn't be certain which of the dogs bit the boy, they were considering destroying all three. The pet owner contacted the UC Davis Veterinary Genetics Lab. Torn clothing the boy was wearing, which contained residual saliva -- and therefore DNA-bearing cells -- was forwarded to the lab. The DNA profile matched perfectly with blood samples from the suspected dog; and the other two Great Danes were spared. Forensics testing also identified a dog that last summer killed one miniature horse and maimed another. In that case, traces of blood with DNA identical to that of the dead horse were found along the rim of the dog's water bowl. o Parentage work laid a foundation UC Davis researchers are enthusiastic about being able to put volumes of DNA research and parentage data to a new, even more meaningful use. "Parentage testing is important; but when you can help put a murderer or rapist behind bars-or in Cody Fox's case, prove that these are the dogs that maimed him-that's really satisfying," Eggleston said. The flipside of that extra satisfaction is the added disappointment that comes when, after dozens of tries, technicians still can't get a sample to yield reliable DNA information. "It just devastates us," Eggleston said. "But three out of four times we can get something out of the samples." Parentage testing is what put the lab in its unique position to help out on forensic cases. In 1994, the lab was confronted with a horse parentage case involving a dead sire. The case helped begin research into methods for extracting DNA from peculiar sources. The horse was dug up and a sample was ultimately obtained from inside a tooth. Hundreds of post-mortem cases followed. "Those gave us a lot of experience working with unusual samples," Byrns said. In addition to animal hair, animal DNA has now been drawn reliably from sources including skulls, saliva, a single spot of dried blood on a piece of wood, dander off a comb, dead skin, urine, feces and museum hides. Adding to this extensive background in post-mortem work is an extensive database of DNA samples. Almost 80 percent of the work the lab does is animal parentage typing for horse registries worldwide, Byrns said. So, on any given day, it can receive up to 1,000 samples of horse hair to analyze. "We have people who just work with horse hair all day," Byrns said. Last year, some 120,000 horses were typed. And Eggleston estimates the lab has some 500,000 individual horse DNA samples on hand. While the lab's DNA sample numbers for cattle and dogs are smaller, at 16,000 for cattle and 9,000 for dogs, "It's still very statistically significant," Eggleston said. Data like that becomes extremely important in forensics cases. o Lab stands out In the recent New Scotland Yard case, investigators first looked unsuccessfully throughout Europe to find a lab willing to DNA type animal blood. The overseas labs probably could have extracted the DNA without a problem, Eggleston said, but then what would they have to compare it to? "You have to back it up with statistics. You have to have background on thousands of animals with these markers to generate statistics to back up what you've done." Neither Byrns nor Eggleston know of any other labs, university or otherwise, that can match UC Davis' animal forensics profiling capabilities. A U.S. Fish and Game Lab in Ashland, Ore., focuses on wildlife only. And Carthage, Texas' Shelterwood Labs can handle unusual animal samples, Eggleston said. But they don't have UC Davis' extensive database-DNA profile results from thousands of like animals that prove an individual's sample is indeed unique. UC Davis' lab now maintains rapidly growing databases not only for horses, cattle and dogs, but also for llamas, alpacas, sheep and elk. And future work will include DNA typing mice for The Jackson Laboratory research facility planned for the campus. "We used to type 1,000 samples per year. Now we'll do that before it's time for our coffee break," Byrns said. o DNA graphs like a mountain range After processing, a DNA sample taken from blood or epithelial cells presents itself graphically as a series of taller peaks of varying heights separated by flatter areas and shorter peaks. The height of the taller peaks, or markers, and the varying space between them are unique to every individual. And up to 24 different markers are analyzed during the course of a forensics case. The lab charges up to $1,000 per case, which would include expert testimony in court if need be. The cost is designed to discourage frivolous cases-for instance, the homeowner who wants to know which neighborhood dog chewed up his tomato plants-not as means of generating profit. Cases take about a month to resolve. "Getting a good DNA extract is the time-consuming part," Eggleston said. The rest of the time is spent on checking and rechecking results. Given the time put into most cases, the forensics work is not always profitable, Byrns said. But, being a public research university, he added: "We can afford to do it for the benefit of law enforcement." Eggleston agreed. "Some cases pay for themselves, others don't." And income from parentage work might have to occasionally subsidize forensics research. But even if the forensics ledger doesn't always even out in the end item, she said, "I think it's a necessary service." o Court appearances are inevitable Cases UC Davis has worked on range in severity from trespassing to murder, but Eggleston has yet to appear in a courtroom. "Most cases settle out of court," she said, noting how that in itself offers a powerful statement of how DNA profiling is gaining recognition as strong evidence. "And we must be doing good, because we're getting good word of mouth." Eggleston figures ending up in court some day is probably as inevitable as a retooling of the lab to accommodate the demand for more forensics testing. "We can handle expansion for a while, but then we're going to have to make some decisions," she said. Meanwhile, the novelty of dealing with more forensics cases and law enforcement officials from far away places doesn't show signs of wearing off. And while strict chain of custody procedures limit the personnel involved in each case, they don't curtail the level of excitement. "It's like a soap opera," Eggleston said. "People are always asking, 'Is it working?' or they're offering their time. There's just great interest and concern. It's fun."